Is it against the law to get fired b/c I was out sick; but I have a note from the doctor and hospital?

Question

I was never told that I could lose my job b/c I was out sick. I don't have a limited number of days to miss. What are my rights? Can someone please help me?

Answer 1

Unfortunately, most states are now "right to work" states, which means that your employer can discharge you at any time for any reason. Your employer may have done you a favor by terminating you. Now you can look for employment with a better company.

Answer 2

You've already been suspended for lates, and are asking (in advance) about calling out sick? I would think there is a VERY good chance you'd be fired, and yes, it's perfectly legal. A doctor's note means nothing, The only reason that employers even ask for a doctor's note is to inconvenience the employee, with the logic that having to go to the trouble and cost of getting a doctor's note will dissuade you from faking. No doctor will provide a note saying that you were sick, merely "XXXXX attended my office complaining of a sore tummy" or something equally bland, and that note creates no duty on the part of the employer to allow the time off. Good, valued employees will be given the benefit of the doubt for reasonable occasional sick days. Employees who have already shown an unwillingness to show up on time every day will not.

Answer 3

If you had an employment contract that implied that it was OK for you to take sick days, and your employer has violated that contract, you may have a case. However, a private contract between you and your employer has to be enforced privately, also - that means you'd have to get an attorney to pursue your side of things, if that's what you choose to do. In the absence of any type of employment contract, the only thing you have to fall back on for protection is state or federal law. I don't know what state you are in, so I can't tell you if there may be state labor law protections that would apply to your situation. However, under federal law, the primary law that prohibits employers from terminating you for absences related to health conditions is the Family and Medical Leave Act. If your employer is a covered employer (meaning one with 50 or more employees) and you are an eligible employee (meaning you have worked for this employer for at least 12 months and 1,250 hours), then the Family and Medical Leave Act would prohibit your employer from terminating you for any qualifying absence, meaning one that required you to be unable to perform normal daily activities for at least three calendar days and required one or more visits to a health care provider (there are other qualifying medical reasons, too - go to www.dol.gov to learn more, or refer to Title 29, Code of Federal Regulations, Part 825). If your employer is smaller, or you just started the job, or you didn't go see a doctor for your illness, etc., then the Family Medical Leave Act protections would not apply to you in this situation, and you are back to being an "at will" employee. As the other answers have pointed out, being "at will" means, essentially, that either party (your employer or you, as the employee) can terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any reason. The only other protections that might be applicable are those that would apply on the basis of some type of discrimination, but if all employees in your category, who missed the same number of days you did, for the same reasons, were treated the same way, you don't really have a case there, either. Hope this helps.....

Answer 4

Sad to say, but you are probably an "at-will" employee.

QUOTE:
At-will employment is an employment relationship in which either party can terminate the relationship with no liability if there was no express contract for a definite term governing the employment relationship.

Under this legal doctrine: any hiring is presumed to be "at will"; that is, the employer is free to discharge individuals "for good cause, or bad cause, or no cause at all," and the employee is equally free to quit, strike, or otherwise cease work.[1]

Several exceptions to the doctrine exist.

Although at-will employment allows an employee to quit for no reason, the rule that either party can terminate the relationship is most often invoked when an employer wants to fire an employee at any time.
_________________

It does say that "several exceptions to the doctrine exist", and a phone call to your labor relations board can't hurt, but it's unlikely that you will be reinstated or collect damages.

Best wishes!

Answer 5

If you are on worker's compensation for workplace injury or you are pregnant, then yes it is illegal. If you have a contract (union employees generally are the ones with contracts), then it depends on what the contract states about termination. If you are an at-will employee, then they have the legal right to fire anyone for any reason (except the above exceptions). In an at-will job you can be fired because they don't like you, or because you wore blue on Tuesday, it really doesn't matter in at-will. It's not right, but it is legal. File for unemployment as soon as possible and take their money for 6 months.

Answer 6

yes it is, as long as you have a doctors excuse you can not get fired from any job no matter what was wronge with you. you should call a lawyer and ask them about your rights and what you can do. it is possible that they will have to give you your job back or you may just recieve a seatlement to help you until you find another job. good luck. hope this helps

Answer 7

Go to the unemployment office and sign up. They will advise you. Take you note with you to prove to them that you were sick. You may have to go to a hearing for unemplyment and your boss may be there. Take all of you work records. You should have a file on you at your former employers office and you have the right to have it.

Answer 8

When you are hired, most companies make you sign something saying they have the right to terminate your employment at any time, and they don't have to give you a reason. If you signed something like that, you're screwed.

Answer 9

It is against the law (not to menion Human Rights) to can you because you were out sick. HOWEVER, employers can simply say that you were unable to meet company expectations... and you're history.

Sorry.

Answer 10

Chances are, you are an "at will" employee, which means your employer can terminate you so long as it is not because of race, religion, etc.